Senior Testing Lead

Job Description

Everforth ECS is seeking a Senior Testing Lead to work in the National Capital Region covering the Pentagon, Falls Church, and Fairfax.

Please Note: This position is contingent upon contract award.

The War Data Platform (WDP) is a key initiative within the U.S. Department of War's (DoW) AI-First strategy introduced in early 2026. The WDP focuses on operational warfighting data and aims to accelerate the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) on the battlefield. The WDP extends to Unclassified, Secret, and Top Secret environments, and supports collaboration between Combatant Commands, Joint Staff directorates, Senior Executive Service leaders, and operational analysts.

The Senior Testing Lead serves as the authoritative test engineering leader for WDP Core Integration, owning the full lifecycle of verification and validation activities across all classification environments from development through production. This role drives test strategy, automation maturity, quality gate governance, and cross-enclave release assurance in direct support of DoW mission readiness and platform resilience objectives.

Leads advanced test engineering operations for War Data Platform (WDP) Core Integration by creating, maintaining, and executing the WDP Core Integration System Test Plan governing all automated and manual verification activities across development, test, integration, staging, and production environments operating on NIPRNet, SIPRNet, and JWICS.
Authors the WDP Core Integration System Test Plan aligned with continuous integration, continuous deployment, and DevSecOps policies, establishes quality gates, defines risk-based test priorities, and obtains stakeholder approvals.
Designs test strategies, coverage models, verification matrices, and secure test-data handling patterns that align with system requirements, reference architectures, scalability thresholds, cybersecurity mandates, and performance objectives.
Coordinates test-strategy development, cross-team alignment, and ongoing refinement of test approaches across Agile Release Trains.
Architects modular, end-to-end automation frameworks that embed unit, regression, integration, security, performance, and acceptance testing into continuous integration and continuous deployment workflows using GitLab, Jenkins, Selenium, JUnit, PyTest, SonarQube, Fortify, and Department of War-approved static and dynamic analysis tools.
Performs scheduled performance and load validations, evaluates pipeline artifacts, validates gate criteria, and identifies defects affecting mission readiness, enclave interoperability, and cyber compliance.
Logs and triages findings, maintains a testing risk register, and monitors key performance indicators to drive timely remediation.
Investigates failures using Splunk, Grafana, CloudWatch, Kubernetes dashboards, and enclave-specific diagnostic utilities.
Delivers status dashboards, formal release sign-offs, updated test documentation, and retrospective insights that refine processes, tooling, and compliance adherence.
Provides structured guidance to junior testers and cross-functional sprint teams to raise test maturity, reduce release-cycle volatility, and strengthen system resilience across all enclaves.
Performs other duties as assigned.

Required Skills

Current Secret security clearance with the ability to obtain and maintain a Top Secret (TS) security clearance with Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI).
10 or more years of progressive experience in test engineering and quality assurance leadership, with demonstrated ownership of system test plans, test automation frameworks, and release gate governance for enterprise software programs in classified or federal government environments.
Hands-on experience architecting and operating end-to-end test automation frameworks within DevSecOps and CI/CD pipelines, including demonstrated proficiency with tools such as GitLab, Jenkins, Selenium, JUnit, PyTest, SonarQube, Fortify, or equivalent static and dynamic analysis platforms approved for DoW environments.
Demonstrated experience conducting security, performance, and load testing in multi-enclave environments spanning NIPRNet, SIPRNet, and JWICS, including the ability to adapt test strategies, secure test-data handling patterns, and quality gate criteria to enclave-specific constraints.
Experience using operational observability and diagnostic platforms such as Splunk, Grafana, Amazon CloudWatch, and Kubernetes dashboards to investigate test failures, perform root-cause analysis, and generate performance reporting in support of mission-ready release decisions.
Strong problem-solving and decision-making capabilities, with a proven ability to weigh the relative costs and benefits of potential actions and identify the most appropriate solution.
Highly developed interpersonal and oral/written communication skills, with the ability to effectively and professionally interact with a diverse set of stakeholders (from peers to end-users to executive management).

Desired Skills

Active Top Secret (TS) security clearance with Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) eligibility.
Relevant industry certification such as ISTQB Advanced Level Test Manager, AWS DevOps Engineer (Professional), or Certified Agile Tester (CAT), demonstrating formal expertise in test management, cloud-native quality assurance, and agile delivery practices applicable to DoW platform environments.
Experience supporting test and evaluation activities for AI/ML model deployment pipelines, including validation of model behavior, performance thresholds, and cross-domain promotion readiness within a DoW or Intelligence Community DevSecOps context.
Familiarity with Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) practices, including experience coordinating test workstreams within an Agile Release Train (ART), participating in Program Increment (PI) planning events, and aligning quality gate outcomes with cross-functional sprint and release objectives.
Working knowledge of Zero Trust Architecture principles and Risk Management Framework (RMF) requirements as they apply to test environment provisioning, continuous monitoring integration, and cybersecurity compliance verification within DoW-accredited cloud environments.

ECS Federal LLC is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate or allow discrimination on the basis any characteristic protected by law. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to disability, status as a protected veteran or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, or local jurisdiction law.

Everforth ECS is the federal segment of Everforth , a $4B global organization with over 10,000 employees. Our nearly 3,500 professionals deliver advanced technology solutions in data and AI, cybersecurity, and enterprise transformation, serving defense, intelligence, and federal civilian agencies.

Our work powers mission-critical outcomes, strengthens technology partnerships, and creates meaningful opportunities for our people. We are defined by a commitment to excellence in delivery, a culture of innovation, and an environment where talent can thrive and grow.

We value:

• Attracting and developing top talent and high-performing teams
• Fostering a culture that is engaging, accountable, and mission-driven